SOD Love Stories: Meet Eight Dental Bruin Couples

Collage of couples reading "UCLA School of Dentistry Love Stories"
Eight happy Dental Bruin couples shared their "how we met..." stories.
February 14, 2025

Happy #ValentinesDay! For a second straight year Dental Bruins shared how they found love in the halls of CHS, from couples still going strong after 50 years to a pair of D2s who have been inseparable since day one...

Frederic Mandell (‘71) and Rosny Mandell (‘70)
“My brother Michael Mandell (‘68), told me he had a cute patient, Rosny, who was a freshman, kept her appointments and lived in Hedrick Hall. I was pre-dental and lived in Reiber with no car. He said come to the clinic at her appointment time, hang around and then I could walk her back to the dorms. We will celebrate our 55th anniversary in March.”

Angela Tosti Brazeal and George Brazeal (‘77)
“We saw each other from afar during our orientation in August 1973; we lived in the same graduate dorm. We’ve been married for 48 years.  ur shared general dental practice in Newport Beach now is owned by our son, Brett, who graduated UCLA Dental School in 2006.”

John Lofthus and Laura Hunt (‘85)
“We were on adjacent benches in lab and kept comparing notes on various projects. I finally got up the courage to ask her out to dinner, and we’ve been together ever since.”

Samira Shafaee (‘01) and Shahram Shahriyarpour (‘00)
“We met in preclinical 4th floor lab because our last names placed us in the same vicinity. Later it was lots of running into each other in the clinic. And the rest was just fate!”

Stephanie Sandretti and Matthew Sandretti (‘13)
“We met as UCLA undergrads in organic chemistry class. We both decided to go to dental school and were accepted to UCLA SOD! We graduated and were married in 2013 and went onto residency in Virginia. We now have two kids, Luca and Gianna, and a dog named Royce!”

Eoon Hye Grace Ji (‘22) and Jason Lee (‘12)
“We met as UCLA bio majors. During my dental school, he was my favorite patient. My first crown is still inside his mouth, #19!”

Sharen Abi Nader (‘27) and Benik Housepian (‘25)
“We met during COVID lockdown. Ben had just graduated UCLA undergraduate and I had just transferred to UCLA. We bonded over our passion for dentistry and somehow we both ended up at our dream dental school!”

Nadia Ballard and Olivia Collis (‘27)
“We met on the very first day of dental school. I had never seen such a beautiful girl; she took my breath away! I think I really started falling in love with her during “stab lab” when she gave me an IANB and it felt like I was struck by lightning!”